“Lack of Respect,” Jannik Sinner Suffers Backlash After Withdrawing from the Monte Carlo Doubles Draw

Jannik Sinner was set to partner with Belgian star Zizou Bergs.

“Lack of Respect,” Jannik Sinner Suffers Backlash After Withdrawing from the Monte Carlo Doubles Draw

Jannik Sinner (Image via X/4K JANNIK SINNER)

In Short
  • Jannik Sinner faced backlash for withdrawing from the Monte Carlo doubles draw, leaving partner Zizou Bergs without a match.
  • Sinner's focus on singles aims to reclaim his World No.1 position after recent successes in hard court tournaments.
  • Fans criticized Sinner's decision, viewing it as disrespectful to doubles specialists and detrimental to Bergs' tournament experience.

Fans on social media have slammed Jannik Sinner for withdrawing from his double match at the Monte Carlo Masters. His withdrawal leaves his partner, Zizou Bergs, with no further match to play after crashing out of the singles of the tournament. Sinner is now focused on the singles event following his withdrawal.

Sinner’s decision to play at the Monte Carlo Masters came as a bit of a shock, as he was expected to take some rest after a hectic Sunshine Double. The World No.2 won the Indian Wells and Miami Open, leaving him with just seven days to prepare for the Monte Carlo and smoothly transition from hard court to clay.

In Indian Wells, he admitted that he’s aiming to play in the doubles category at the Monte Carlo Masters, which will make it easier for him to smoothly transition to the surface, while not thinking about fatigue. He was willing to take more matches rather than rest, so he entered the doubles category alongside Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.

The pair won their opening match, defeating Casper Ruud and Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5, on Court Rainier III. Sinner then went on to open his singles account with an excellent and comfortable 6-3, 6-0 win against Ugo Humbert, continuing his form on the clay court and extending his unbeaten streak to 13 matches.

He and Bergs were expected to be back on the court in the second round match against Manuel Guinard and Guido Andreozzi, but Sinner decided to withdraw from the doubles competition to focus on the singles, where he can reclaim his World No.1 position should he win the title eventually.

However, Sinner’s withdrawal means that Bergs’ campaign at Monte Carlo has come to an end. The Belgian star had informed Sinner about their partnership in Miami, which he agreed to, but would have expected this kind of situation. Fans on X were not pleased with Sinner’s decision to withdraw, as many see it as a selfish attitude. Here are the fans’ reactions:

This is not the first time that Sinner is withdrawing from a double event on tour, as he always prioritizes singles events over anything. Also, the Italian star understands that he has to focus on one goal, which is climbing to the top of the ATP rankings. He’s into the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters.

Zizou Bergs opens up on how he got to partner with Jannik Sinner at the Monte Carlo Masters

Zizou Bergs opened his Monte Carlo Masters singles account against Adrian Mannarino in the first round. Mannarino, who last won an ATP clay-court match in Houston last year. He defeated the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3. He then shockingly defeated Andrey Rublev in the second round of the tournament before Alexander Zverev defeated him in the round of 16.

Jannik Sinner and Zizou Bergs
Jannik Sinner and Zizou Bergs (via X/Jose Morgado)

Bergs will now exit the Monte Carlo Masters with his head highly following his win against World No.15 Rublev. The Belgian star revealed during an interview with Tennis Channel how he got to partner with Jannik Sinner in the doubles of the Monte Carlo Masters. He added that they trained together at the Indian Wells Open:

Unfortunately, there had to come an end to it today. But hopefully in the future, we can still play a little bit together. Yeah, we were training in Indian Wells, and we had some fun. We had some talks. We talked a little bit about doubles, and then practice was done, and he asked me ‘Do you want to play doubles in Monte Carlo? I was like ‘I’ll think about it.

Bergs will hope to bounce back at the Munich Open next week. The Belgian star has never gone past the round of 16 of a tournament this season. He hopes to break that jinx on clay as he reached the quarter-finals of the Munich Open last year before losing to Fabian Marozsan.

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